Once again, MLS is stepping in and holding up a transfer agreement between one of its teams and a foreign club. This time, the player at the center of the negotiations is one of American soccer’s brightest young stars.

With five MLS seasons already behind him, Brek Shea now wants to play in England. FC Dallas not only is willing to sell the winger’s rights, it is understood to have agreed to a transfer fee with Stoke City pending the player’s return to full fitness following foot surgery. The British press has even reported that Shea was on his way to Stoke for a one-week trial.

Brek Shea's status as a national team candidate is complicating his move to an English club. (AP Photo)

But the 22-year-old has been at FC Dallas Stadium this week as coach Schellas Hyndman’s team opened preseason training. Shea had a sesamoid bone removed from his right foot in November and still isn’t playing at full speed. But he’s in cleats, running and cutting. Whether his return to action will occur in Dallas’ red and white hoops or Stoke’s red and white stripes remains to be seen.

Sporting News on Tuesday confirmed ESPN’s report that MLS officials have refused to sign off on a tentative transfer agreement reached by Dallas and Stoke. ESPN claimed the fee was around $3.2 million, which was consistent with figures that emerged over the weekend.

But MLS, which owns all player contracts and takes one-third of any transfer fee paid by a foreign club, thinks Shea is worth more.

The snag is reminiscent of Stoke’s previous pursuit of an MLS player, former Houston Dynamo defender Geoff Cameron. He was in limbo for more than two weeks as reports emerged that MLS was seeking close to $3 million for the 27-year-old. Both Cameron and the Dynamo expressed some frustration and a fee in the range of $2.7 million finally was agreed to in late July.

It all ended well for Cameron—he has been outstanding in his first EPL season—but the process raised questions about whether it was fair for the league office to delay, or even reject, a move sought by one of its teams.

MLS commissioner Don Garber addressed the issue in an interview with Sporting News last summer.

“It’s not just what the player wants and what the (MLS) club might want because the club might have very short-term goals and objectives whereas the league is charged with having broader, long-term goals and objectives,” Garber said.

“If Geoff Cameron could be a starter for the U.S. national team (at the World Cup) in 2014, that is of great value to Major League Soccer and might be more valuable to us strategically than perhaps what the team might be thinking. That’s what leagues are charged to do. That’s why they put us in place to hopefully look at things more strategically. We’re not thinking about what needs to happen every match on Saturday.”

So while Shea might be itching to leave the Dallas nest, and while the club might be willing to let him pursue his dream of playing abroad while making a couple million dollars in return, MLS believes it must address a bigger picture.

Shea is under contract for three more years, meaning there’s no threat he’ll leave as a free agent. Although he endured a difficult 2012 season, the performances in '11 that made him an MLS MVP finalist and favorite of U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann were testament to his talent. Shea has become one of American soccer’s most recognizable and marketable young players.

To MLS, his value is greater than what he might contribute in a given FC Dallas game. So he remains in Texas, tethered both by the long-term contract he signed two years ago and the league’s belief in his potential. The transfer window closes at the end of the month.